The pair of mercenaries, after leaving the Pink Unicorn bar and now officially becoming part of its ranks, set out on their first mission, delivering a silver necklace with an embedded magic crystal to the city of Sapphire Harbor.
Lucian, being a half-elf, had to hide his hair and ears with a hood as they walked through the village, meanwhile Ebony wore her dress, which clearly showed signs of having gone through several fights.
"Hey, shouldn't you buy some other clothes? The ones you're wearing are completely torn, a little more and everything will be showing, especially because of that skirt you ripped during our encounter with the ghost rider," the elf mentioned, trying not to look too much at the girl's skin.
"Hey, no complaints, thanks to me we made it out alive, and besides we don't have money to waste stupidly, especially with this urgent delivery," the blonde replied, feeling no shame about showing herself in public in those clothes.
"Actually, Veronica left us five gold coins, we could use that if you want, I don't want—" Ebony interrupted the boy at that moment.
"Money? What a kind kitty! I like that very much, yes sir, let's buy clothes, well no, this will hold up, better let's buy food!" the blonde said as a drop of saliva slipped from her mouth.
Lucian didn't agree with her way of spending money, because of her they had lost all the money they had in the previous city, however after a sigh the elf decided to stop by a clothing store and buy her something to wear.
They had to be quick, so they only bought the first things they saw, even with travel provisions they had to do the same.
The pair, despite being mere partners pursuing their own ambitions, spent a couple of hours laughing and exchanging mocking comments, after all it was the first time both of them spent time alone together.
However, by midday they decided to leave the village without wasting any more time, exiting through the northern gate and crossing the wall of sharpened logs that protected the inhabitants of the place.
Once outside, both opened their summoning scrolls and from each of them poured out a golden magic in the form of vapor that began to shape itself into the figure of a horse.
{{Summoning Magic: Solar Horse}}
When the magical vapor dissipated, a horse of flesh and blood appeared, its coat was golden and it already had a saddle equipped.
"Awesome, back in my time these were expensive to get and a pain in the ass to train, I wonder if…" Ebony approached, thinking this mount model was the same one she knew in her past life.
However, the horse she approached sensed her cynical and disrespectful presence, and with a neigh moved away from the blonde.
"Russel said you have to be respectful, if you aren't, these guys might not let you ride them," the elf mentioned, scratching his head over his hood.
"Are you saying I have no manners? Huh? I'm the most polite person I know! I didn't do anything wrong, I just went up to touch it, it's my summon," Ebony said while placing her hands on her waist.
"Let me put it in words you understand, that spirit is not your property and deserves to be treated with respect, which means you have to treat it with the same respect you want to receive, and ask for permission before mounting," Lucian said, crossing his arms.
Hearing that, Ebony understood his words, after all this wasn't a game like in her past life, at least not anymore, now it was her reality and that horse was alive just like her, so she decided to treat it as an equal.
"Okay listen to me, you son of a fucking bitch, let me get on your back so we can travel to our destination, I promise that if you behave I'll buy you an apple," the refined lady said with a friendly smile.
The girl was slender and had delicate features like a member of royalty, but her vocabulary was that of a truck driver.
Upon hearing such a declaration, the horse got offended and ran off until it returned to its form of golden vapor.
"Look what you did! It ran away, what the hell is wrong with you? That was really rude," Lucian said with an angry face.
"Oh come on, so delicate, that's how I talked with my friends, I don't see what's wrong with it, whatever, I'll just summon it again," the girl said before trying to use the scroll once more.
"What the hell are you talking about? You can't summon a spirit when it leaves of its own free will, they're not slaves you can treat however you want!" the elf's face was completely twisted with anger, as a summoner he couldn't tolerate mistreatment of spirits.
"Alright, alright, calm down, I didn't know… (What a crappy system, the fact that a mount can just run away like that is bullshit) … Hey, but now what do we do?"
"...Alright, let me handle it," after a moment of silence Lucian sighed and approached the remaining horse.
Before touching it, the elf slowly bowed in a courteous but not overly submissive reverence, some spirits saw submission as weakness and could end up killing their contractors.
Seeing Lucian's bow, the horse approached him and returned the gesture by lowering its head.
At that moment Lucian let out a sigh of relief as he placed his hand on the golden horse's head.
"See? That's how it's done, now it's your turn, and you'd better not do it reluctantly or it'll notice."
Ebony, resigned to the elf's words, ended up following the instructions and greeted the horse with a bow.
After that, the horse approached her and returned the greeting, at that moment the blonde managed to stroke the spirit.
The instant she touched it, the Healer felt a life different from the others she had sensed before, as it filled her heart with a gentle warmth.
"Well, it's time, let's go already," Lucian said as he climbed into the saddle.
"And… what do I do?... Ah… shit," the blonde muttered before climbing onto the horse behind Lucian, at that moment they looked like a fairy-tale couple ready to set off on their adventure, especially because of their green-colored clothes that matched each other.
"You'd better ride nicely or I'm going to—" From one moment to the next, Ebony was interrupted by the spirit's speed as it suddenly began galloping down the dirt road.
"Sorry, but there's no time, so hold on tight!" the elf said before whistling to give an order to the horse, activating its magical acceleration, this ability of the spirit consumed its bearer's magic in exchange for a speed spell.
{{Spirit Magic: Solar Trot}}
The horse's hooves began to burn with golden flames, while its coat also shifted into a fire-like state, gaining a speed that forced the girl to cling tightly to the elf's waist.